Pennsylvania Voters Coalition and State Officials Work for Electoral Reform
Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 1
January 22, 2010
HARRISBURG—Last month, Pennsylvania voting rights groups, state officials and legislators participated in the second annual Pennsylvania Voters Coalition Elections Symposium. The event was organized to discuss strengths and weaknesses in the state's current election systems, and devise strategies and partnerships to improve Pennsylvania's voting process for the 2010 election cycle and beyond.
Advancement Project helped plan and organize the symposium, alongside other members of the Pennsylvania Voters Coalition, including Common Cause/PA, Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP), the League of Women Voters of PA, the Election Reform Network, the Disability Rights Network of PA, Vote PA, and the Committee of 70.
According to Advancement Project's Pennsylvania-based Voter Protection Attorney Kathryn Boockvar, the 2009 symposium built on the success of the 2008 symposium.
“This year, three bi-partisan legislators attended portions of the symposium, and participated in a legislative panel, and legislative policies for reform were more clearly considered and strategized throughout the symposium,” said Boockvar. “Additionally, the Department of State had a very strong presence, which included nearly every Department of State official responsible for election planning and implementation in Pennsylvania.”
Also, the 2009 symposium felt particularly productive, providing a greater sense of how voter protection groups and the state could work together and separately toward improving election processes and resolving problems.
“This year had a stronger sense of collaboration and collective goal-setting and planning between the groups and the Department of State. Additionally, several legislators expressed clear interest in working on election reform, and all the legislators strongly encouraged the groups to contact their offices and advocate their specific goals,” said Boockvar.
A common goal for the Department of State and voting rights groups is to work to create no-excuse early absentee voting in Pennsylvania, Boockvar said. There was also discussion about a number of possible voter registration reforms. Further discussions are expected on these issues.
Among the symposium topics were: Building a Friendly Registration System; Strengthening Relationships with County Election Officials; Protecting the Voting Vulnerable; Pennsylvania's Voting Machines: Safe and Accurate or Still at Risk and Getting Riskier?
Boockvar, along with the Election Reform Network, co-facilitated the voter registration breakout session. The workshop showed that there is significant interest in easing the voter registration process through reforms that might allow universal registration, same-day registration or a combination of early voting and same-day registration where you can register and vote early on the same day at the same location. There are, however, questions about feasibility and logistics of implementation.
Boockvar also co-facilitated the closing session of the symposium, alongside the Disability Rights Network and League of Women Voters, which was aimed at moving forward with shared goals and reforms quickly and efficiently.
“A lot of hard work on all sides forged a very productive symposium, and we look forward to moving forward on voting reforms identified,” said Boockvar. “We have already had some follow-up, and the Department of State has agreed to schedule a comprehensive demonstration of the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) voter registration system in February for interested organizations to understand the system, as well as improvements that have been made or are planned in 2010.”
Voter protection groups hope that no matter which governor and legislators are elected in 2010, they will recognize the value of these collaborations, and will continue to convene annually to address election administration issues in Pennsylvania.
